Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-04-13

a Lecture at the War College ON Moder
Naval Weapons.

a Lecture IT the War College ON Modera
Naval Weapons.
Lieutenant John +. Mcigs delivered
lecture at tho Naval War College on
The Tactics of the Gun" Tho three
naval weapons" said he. ''as usually
recognized, are the gun. ram and tor
pe6o. The attempt is often made to
arrange them In order of their import
ance, but II seems that this can hardly
be done with any degree of satisfac-
ton to ones self for their relative i'm
poriance or usefulness must depend
upon numerous circumstances which
we can not forsec or predict The rel
alive importance Of her guns, torpe-
does and ram to particular ship de-
pend upon the class of work she is
called upon to perform. In the attack
upon forts her guns are her most USE
full weapons, while many officers think
that the ram skilfully handled will play
the most important part in future fleet
action. The question which naval
officers have to decide when for
an assigned displacement and cost
they are called upon to lay down
the general features of ships-to
decide how much weight and space
they will allot to each weapon lis even
more difficult one. II the Atlanta,
being armed with guns. torpedo and
ram. meets the lnhexible, her guns
would be almost useless. and she must
have recourse to either her torpedo or
ram II she undertakes the unequal fight.
With either of these weapons, she is
the equal of her supposed adversary
and in that which she is more handy
she Is her superior. Indeed. the con-
sideration Of the function of the ram
and locomotive torpedo leads not I'M
naturally to the thought that they may
be destined to do away with the heavy
and costly ironclads which are now the
battle-ships of all navies. These
weapons are great Jewelers. and put 1t
in the power Of quickly built and mex
pensivc craft to sink and destroy the
largest and nominally most powerful
ironclads in the world.
II 1t be granted that we want some
ships carrying numerous guns we ought
to settle on standard gun for them;
and further, the gun must not be too
heavy. The gift Of prophecy is rare
one, but the indications at present
seem to be in favor Of q calibre OF about
five inches, and there can be no doubt
that the installation of such calibre can
be greatly improved by causing 1t to
approach that of the Hotchkiss rapid
fire guns. Has not tho reduction in the
number of guns and their massing gone
too far? There are now ships of over
ten thousand tons displacement, cost
ing millions of dollars, occupying years
to build and carrying only four guns in
contracted space. These guns may
be silenced, perhaps permanently. by
couple 81 shots The ships them
selves are nearly as vulnerable to the
attack of the ram or torpedo as are any
of our old wooden crafts, and we can
not expect to get many hits unless In
very exceptional favorable circum-
stances with so few guns. These pom
derous vessels, with their great draught.
their small coal and ammunition en-
DURANGO, their few guns, and their vul-
nerabiiity to the ram and torpedo are
n delusion. In tho contest which has
been going on for years between guns
and armor, the guns have always been
little ahead. That this is still the case
is evident from the abandonment of
the cndeavor to armor all of tho vital
parts of ships. The rapid-fire guns
which have Eocn introduced in the last
few years and which now constitute
considerable par. of the offensive power
OF all men -of-war, have put new face
upon the armor question. " Newport
Cor ~ Y Tribune